Welcome back! So glad you came. Enjoy the show. This is an old trope, but a good one, and I hope you'll like my take on it.
Kate saw Doc safely back to his room, but just the walk across the street and down a few buildings set him to coughing violently again. She sent a boy for a pot of tea and went inside Doc's home before he quite had time to think about it. She helped him to his armchair and let him down into it. Consumed with his cough, Doc could only point to a bottle on a shelf, which she understood immediately and brought it to him.
Doc took a sip of the laudanum. By and by, his cough subsided again, and he was finally presented with the realization that there was a woman in his quarters, and unchaperoned at that.
"Thank you," he rasped. "I'll be all right now."
She removed his wet hat and smoothed his hair down. "You poor thing," she crooned.
"There's no need to fuss," Doc said, sounding more irritated than he meant to. "I just need some time in less damp air, and I'll be..."
"Right as rain?" she suggested.
He grimaced. "I thank you for your help, Kate. But you'd better go."
There was a knock at the door, and Kate went to answer it before Doc could decide how dangerous it was to his reputation for her to do so. It was a porter with the tea she had ordered.
Doc sighed and inquired of his vest pocket for a quarter. He handed the coin to Kate, who gave it to the porter with such a cheery word of thanks that he doubted the man would think anything at all could be amiss. He relaxed a little.
Kate poured tea for both of them. "Do you take milk and sugar?"
"Please, you've done enough."
"Nonsense. You look like a drowned rat. And sound like one too, with all your squeaking protest."
Doc's jaw dropped. She had teased him a little before, but this was kicking him when he was down. "Listen here, Kate..."
"I'll give you both if you don't tell me," she threatened, sugar tongs hovering over one of the cups.
He sighed. "Sugar's all right. Leave off the milk."
Kate smiled and dropped a couple of lumps of sugar into the cup, gave it a stir and held it out to him.
Doc reached for the tea, but an irritation in his lungs suddenly had him coughing again. He choked out a curse between gasps. He felt her soft hand on his shoulder before he could see clearly again. The cough dwindled to wheezing.
"You sit back and I'll hold it for you," she said sweetly.
"Really, you ought to go."
"I wouldn't leave a mean dog alone in this condition. Now, be a good boy and take your tea."
There she went patronizing him again. Doc scowled at her. "You oughtn't be here. I'm trying to tell you as politely as I can, but you're not making it easy."
"And you oughtn't be alone, and I'm not setting foot from this room until you're feeling better." She held the teacup an inch from his mouth.
"I'm feeling better."
"I've watched you play cards many a night. I know when you're bluffing."
That was infuriating. No one liked to be told he had a tell. "I'll be fine," he said tersely. "Now, not to be rude, but get out."
She merely blinked slowly.
It took a good deal of willpower not to curse directly at her. "Go on-" He coughed again, and had she not moved the cup, his face would surely have collided with it.
This time, he felt her hand stroking the back of his neck as he coughed. She really had no sense of propriety, he decided.
"My, my, you are stubborn," she said softly when the worst of this outburst was over. She brought the tea before him again. "If only you would behave yourself and take your tea, perhaps you truly would feel better."
Now he flat-out glared at her. Thinking it the only way to get rid of her, he lifted a pale hand to pull hers an inch closer, fitted his lips around the edge of the cup and took a sip.
She smiled. "There, that's better, isn't it? Have some more."
Little by little, they both drank their tea. Finally, his cup was drained.
"Now, let's get you ready for bed."
"I can manage," Doc said immediately. He didn't know exactly what she had in mind, but allowing a paramour to prepare him for bed sounded like a foolhardy and scandalous thing to do. "Please, leave."
"I told you, I'm not going until you're better."
"I'm not getting dressed for bed with a woman in my chambers." There, he said it. Curses, was he blushing?
"I'll stand with my face to the window," she said, looking not at all bothered. Why would she? She had probably seen men in all states of undress.
It was dark outside; the window would probably give her a generous view by way of its reflection. Doc's blush deepened. "You'll step outside," he said firmly.
"But what if you need help? You might be taken with coughing again, and..."
"That's exactly why I want you out," he snapped. "I'm going to manage this on my own. Now, please step outside or I'll be forced to throw you out."
She looked as if she would laugh, and Doc didn't know how his pride would stand it. But then she schooled her features into a subdued smile and straightened up from her hovering position. "Very well, Doc. But I'll be right outside the door, should you need me."
He nodded, relieved that she was finally going. He didn't stir from his chair until the door was closed. Then he retrieved his key from his pocket and carefully stood up, crossed the room to the door, inserted the key and quickly turned it with a satisfying click.
"Doc..." Kate's voice came from without.
"I'll be just fine," he said before turning away from the door.
He set about preparing for bed, not sure what he would do afterward. His strongest inclination was not to unlock the door until morning, but it really would be rude to do that without being sure that she would go her way. He couldn't have her standing by his door all night - that was surely as bad as having her leave his room at an ungodly hour.
Although his room was warm enough to wear a nightshirt to bed, Doc opted for his light suit of long underwear. He could feel the irritation in his lungs as he dressed, frustrated no end by it. He wrapped his dressing gown around himself as well, probably a ridiculous measure, but he was quite perturbed by the whole situation. He poured out a little water from the tea service, which was lukewarm by this time, and drank it with care.
Finally, he went back to the door and opened it, just a crack, setting his foot in front of it to prevent her from bursting in. "Thank you kindly for seeing me home," he said in a slow, deliberate manner so as not to arouse more coughing. He swallowed and went on. "I assure you, I'll be quite all right now."
She looked over the half of him that was visible from top to bottom. "If you're sure," she said, looking at him like a gambler searching for that elusive tell.
He glanced down just slightly toward his righthand side and then met her eyes again. Damn, that's it. That's my tell. Have I been doing that long?
She stared back at him. She knew.
"I'm sure," he said firmly. "Good night, miss Kate."
"Good night, Doctor Holliday." She gave him a small smile and turned to leave.
He closed the door softly and brought his handkerchief to his face to let out the cough he had been holding at bay. It turned from gentle spasms of the diaphragm into a violent hacking that sent him to his knees. He pressed his handkerchief against his open mouth as he coughed, but it did little to stifle the noise. He could get so little air that he thought he might pass out.
He didn't know when the door opened, but suddenly there were hands scooping under his arms, helping him to his feet, moving to his elbow and shoulder, guiding him to the bed... He was in no state to protest, let alone resist.
Kate tucked him into bed and pulled the armchair across the floor to his bedside. A moment later, she pressed a damp cloth to his forehead.
He drew in a breath that sounded like a fireplace bellows and stared up at her. "I... I asked you to leave."
"Shh."
"Hell, I all but begged you to leave."
"Hush, John."
It was the first time she had used his Christian name. He didn't remember giving it to her.
"I know you're a proper gentleman, but you shouldn't be alone right now. I think any doctor would tell you that. So, I'll sit here with you until you're sleeping peacefully, or until morning comes. Whichever gets here first."
"You can't do that."
"I think you'll find that I can."
It was true that he wasn't strong enough to do anything about it if she simply refused to move. This renewed Doc's frustration tenfold, and he sank into his pillow to nurse his wounded pride and worry about his reputation a little later.
"Now, you're very warm to the touch. If you can sit up, I think we should remove that dressing gown of yours."
This was beyond the pale. His strategies to rebuff her had backfired and left him in a terribly compromising position. He pushed himself upright and peeled back the sides of the garment, allowing her to pull it off him in an atmosphere of stony silence. He had known that his illness would eventually cause him to depend on others for help and to have to part ways with his dignity, but this was the worst such incident to date. His frustration boiled over in the form of a tear slipping from the corner of his eye, and he could only thank Providence that it was on the side facing away from Kate, so she did not see it.
He hadn't even gotten to clean his teeth, a sickening thought for a dentist. He lay back down, resigned to his fate at last. Over the next several hours, he slipped in and out of sleep. Kate was always there, offering him water or a cold cloth, adjusting the bedclothes as he became too warm or too cold.
Finally, he woke to the clean, clear light of dawn peeping between the drapes. Kate stirred in her chair and graced him with a tender smile. She laid the back of her hand to his forehead for a moment and nodded in a satisfied manner.
Before he could speak, she got up, opened the drapes, dragged the armchair back to its position by the table, and then went to the door. "I'll have someone bring breakfast for you," she said sweetly. "You take care of yourself now, Doc."
Then she was gone.
Kate may be bad for Doc's reputation, but she's good for his health. I'm not trying to write a historically accurate piece here, but I imagine their early days could have been like this, him trying to live decently so as not to disgrace his family name, and her weaseling her way into his heart through sheer strength of a caring nature. I'll probably jump ahead in time a little next time. It won't be long before Wyatt becomes part of the story. See you later.
